Crumbly Biscotti — Nick Malgieri (2024)

FAQs

What makes biscotti too crumbly? ›

A: Overbaking the logs of dough during the first baking can make the slices crumble as you are cutting them.

For crumble-free cutting, spray baked biscotti logs with water. Once your biscotti logs are baked it's time to slice them — hopefully without crumbling! I like to mist the logs with water and wait 5 minutes, then cut.

The trickiest parts of making them are the mixing and the shaping and baking. Just like biscuits, you can't overmix the dough. I found that if the dough is mixed too much, the biscotti becomes dense and heavy.

Because the dough can be sticky and hard to form, it's important to chill the batter for a good 30 minutes before baking the first time. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper then dust it with a little flour. Transfer the batter to the baking sheet and chill in the fridge.

Most baked goods need a leavening agent to make them rise, and if you leave it out, your cake or your cookies will fall flat. Baking powder makes dough rise because it contains both a base and an acid in dried form.

Despite their centuries-old heritage, there is no one perfect way to make biscotti. Some recipes call for eggs only, which is the traditional method, while others swear by butter or oil. The choice is yours; just keep in mind that those made with butter or oil will have both a softer texture and a shorter shelf life.

Warm biscotti are more delicate and prone to breakages. Allow them to cool completely, preferably for a few hours, before attempting to cut them. This will ensure that they have hardened and are easier to slice without breaking.

Let the biscotti cool only for 10 minutes after first bake. If you leave the biscotti to cool for too long after the first bake the biscotti will be too tough to cut. You want to biscotti warm, but not hot or else it will crumble. Use a serrated knife and cut in a sawing motion.

Baking soda – baking soda helps the biscotti rise and spread. Make sure that your baking soda isn't expired. Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.

After the first bake, the biscotti loaves should be firm and very lightly browned, but not hard. Loaves are ready to cut when you can touch them without burning yourself.

Are you supposed to dunk biscotti? ›

These crispy Italian cookies are sort of like the crouton of the dessert world. They're supposed to be REALLY crunchy – to the point where it's hard to bite into them without dunking them. Truly, they are made to be dunked.

Don't overbeat the eggs. You want just enough air pockets to add some crispiness and texture, but not so many that you get a lot of crumble in your biscotti instead. Don't overmix the batter. You just want to see all of your ingredients come together and that's it!

If your biscuits are falling apart…

If this sounds familiar, you could be adding too much flour to your dough without knowing it, disrupting the ratio of dry to wet ingredients.